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American Morning

Peterson Case

Aired October 31, 2003 - 09:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The third day of the preliminary hearing in the Scott Peterson Case gets under way in less than three hours. Yesterday, defense attorney Mark Geragos spent the day questioning the prosecution's forensic expert about the reliability of a DNA testing technique which could be damaging to his client.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who's been covering the trial, joins us now from Modesto.

Jeff, good to have you with us.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Mark Geragos scoring a few points there, isn't he?

TOOBIN: Well, you know, I'm not sure how much he is going to persuade the judge to keep this DNA evidence out. In fact, I don't think he will. But in terms of just a vibe in the courtroom, Mark Geragos is really running that courtroom. The prosecutors don't say anything. The judge sits there like a bump on a log. I mean, Mark Geragos is really dominating the courtroom, and that is something that really may carry over and really may help Scott Peterson. I mean, it is very striking in terms of sort of the vibe there that Mark Geragos is really in charge.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about ways that he is attempting to muddy the waters on this mitochondrial DNA. He's doing a pretty good job of taking something that is scientifically pretty much proven and making it seem like it isn't.

TOOBIN: Right. I mean, what's different about mitochondrial DNA as opposed to nuclear DNA, which is fairly familiar, is mitochondrial DNA is used basically only with hair. And it is much less precise than nuclear DNA. Most of us who've followed murder trials, you've heard, you know, one in a billion, one in a million chances that it's someone other than the suspect. That's not how mitochondrial DNA works. It comes only from the maternal line genetically. And the odds are more like 1 in 100, 1 in 200. That's not a flaw in the process. That's just how mitochondrial DNA works.

But Geragos spent almost two full days cross-examining the FBI scientist about it, trying to muddy the waters, making this seem a lot more complicated than it is. And I think it's a demonstration of what's likely to come if and when this goes to a jury trial. Many months of dry and boring testimony, and it could be months.

O'BRIEN: Shades of O.J. there. I heard him talking about going to find the real killers and all that. It's amazing the parallels there, isn't it?

TOOBIN: Yes, there really are a lot of them. And the idea of turning DNA evidence, which is a powerful prosecution tool, into something that could be used against the prosecution, it's not done often in trials, but it was done in O.J., and obviously, Mark Geragos is trying to do it here.

O'BRIEN: Give us an outlook for today. You're pretty well plugged in with your sources. What are you hearing you're going to see unfold in a few hours?

TOOBIN: Well, I think the preliminary hearing is really going to begin in earnest today, with actually witnesses who knew something about the murder. We're likely to hear from Amy Rocha, who is the sister of Laci Peterson, one of the last people to see her alive. We may hear from the maid in the house, who also saw the house right before Laci disappeared. Learn something about the relationship between Scott and Laci Peterson, and also about the physical evidence in the house. That's one of the big mysteries that really we know very little about, is what physical evidence was found during all the search warrants that were executed during the course of this investigation.

We're likely to learn something about that today. And the later witnesses, when we hear from some cops who participated in the investigation.

O'BRIEN: And just a final thought here, are prosecutors reluctant to reveal too much of their hand?

TOOBIN: Well, you know, that's a line that prosecutors always walk in preliminary hearings. Because, you know, they don't want to reveal too much, because that gives the defense too much of a preview of their case. But they still need to meet their burden of probable cause.

Here, though, you have the additional factor of a very attentive jury pool. So I think prosecutors in this case are going to release more evidence than they ordinarily would to persuade the public, that is potential jurors, that this is a strong case that they have against Scott Peterson.

O'BRIEN: All right. Jeff Toobin in Modesto, thanks very much. Keep us posted.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 31, 2003 - 09:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The third day of the preliminary hearing in the Scott Peterson Case gets under way in less than three hours. Yesterday, defense attorney Mark Geragos spent the day questioning the prosecution's forensic expert about the reliability of a DNA testing technique which could be damaging to his client.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who's been covering the trial, joins us now from Modesto.

Jeff, good to have you with us.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Mark Geragos scoring a few points there, isn't he?

TOOBIN: Well, you know, I'm not sure how much he is going to persuade the judge to keep this DNA evidence out. In fact, I don't think he will. But in terms of just a vibe in the courtroom, Mark Geragos is really running that courtroom. The prosecutors don't say anything. The judge sits there like a bump on a log. I mean, Mark Geragos is really dominating the courtroom, and that is something that really may carry over and really may help Scott Peterson. I mean, it is very striking in terms of sort of the vibe there that Mark Geragos is really in charge.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about ways that he is attempting to muddy the waters on this mitochondrial DNA. He's doing a pretty good job of taking something that is scientifically pretty much proven and making it seem like it isn't.

TOOBIN: Right. I mean, what's different about mitochondrial DNA as opposed to nuclear DNA, which is fairly familiar, is mitochondrial DNA is used basically only with hair. And it is much less precise than nuclear DNA. Most of us who've followed murder trials, you've heard, you know, one in a billion, one in a million chances that it's someone other than the suspect. That's not how mitochondrial DNA works. It comes only from the maternal line genetically. And the odds are more like 1 in 100, 1 in 200. That's not a flaw in the process. That's just how mitochondrial DNA works.

But Geragos spent almost two full days cross-examining the FBI scientist about it, trying to muddy the waters, making this seem a lot more complicated than it is. And I think it's a demonstration of what's likely to come if and when this goes to a jury trial. Many months of dry and boring testimony, and it could be months.

O'BRIEN: Shades of O.J. there. I heard him talking about going to find the real killers and all that. It's amazing the parallels there, isn't it?

TOOBIN: Yes, there really are a lot of them. And the idea of turning DNA evidence, which is a powerful prosecution tool, into something that could be used against the prosecution, it's not done often in trials, but it was done in O.J., and obviously, Mark Geragos is trying to do it here.

O'BRIEN: Give us an outlook for today. You're pretty well plugged in with your sources. What are you hearing you're going to see unfold in a few hours?

TOOBIN: Well, I think the preliminary hearing is really going to begin in earnest today, with actually witnesses who knew something about the murder. We're likely to hear from Amy Rocha, who is the sister of Laci Peterson, one of the last people to see her alive. We may hear from the maid in the house, who also saw the house right before Laci disappeared. Learn something about the relationship between Scott and Laci Peterson, and also about the physical evidence in the house. That's one of the big mysteries that really we know very little about, is what physical evidence was found during all the search warrants that were executed during the course of this investigation.

We're likely to learn something about that today. And the later witnesses, when we hear from some cops who participated in the investigation.

O'BRIEN: And just a final thought here, are prosecutors reluctant to reveal too much of their hand?

TOOBIN: Well, you know, that's a line that prosecutors always walk in preliminary hearings. Because, you know, they don't want to reveal too much, because that gives the defense too much of a preview of their case. But they still need to meet their burden of probable cause.

Here, though, you have the additional factor of a very attentive jury pool. So I think prosecutors in this case are going to release more evidence than they ordinarily would to persuade the public, that is potential jurors, that this is a strong case that they have against Scott Peterson.

O'BRIEN: All right. Jeff Toobin in Modesto, thanks very much. Keep us posted.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com